Celtics 117 Cavs 113: The Celtics’ offense in the first three quarters… wow! Rotation, penetration, and Ray Allen was in classic form. Their defense, doing what it’s supposed to, closing off angles and forcing the Cavs into a jump shooting team. Tremendous effort.

For three quarters.

Look, they held on. And we’ve already told you the downside of this game. But LeBron looked for most of this game like he was in a mental Easter egg hunt. Then he plugged in, and all of a sudden, that 20 point lead evaporated. They held on, but man. It just feels empty a bit.

This isn’t me saying he sucks. Or sux. Or whatever vernacular you prefer. I recognize, all haters to the left. I get that he’s still “the best closer in the game” or whatever. But take a look at this game, and you’ll see something bizarre.

What’s that? The Lakers bench scoring four points total? No, that’s not bizarre. That’s forseeable. We know this bench is bad. They’ve been bad all season, they’ll be bad all postseason, this is who they are. This is what happens when you have an All-Star or near All-Star at four of your five starting spots and one off the bench (when Bynum’s healthy). It comes with the territory.

No, it was Bryant, shooting poorly, playing badly, and not adjusting. Pau Gasol had 32 points on 20 shots. He could have used more touches. Lamar Odom shot 50% from the field, but only took 8 shots. Kobe? 24 shots for 22 points. That ain’t gonna get it done. The Lakers forced nothing, dictated nothing, and generally stood idly by while the Spurs did their thing, old school style.

They can care, they can not care, this was a game they should have won to send a message, at home, before the playoffs, and they were steamrolled.

Warriors 113 Raptors 112: Toronto can’t beat really good defenses or really good offenses. Everything in the middle, they do okay against.

Good thing they’re looking to go deep in the playoffs.

Chris Bosh missed a gimme. A laugher. A lay-in. A charity piece. The kind of shot you hit when warming up for a game of HORSE with your dad.

And in the middle of all this, Anthony Morrow really needs a chance with another squad. On Golden State? He’s just another no conscience chucker. But in Cleveland? He’d be a dagger machine. 5-7 from the arc and 10 boards. Solid.

Bosh had 42, 12, and 3 turnovers. Should have been 44.

Magic 107 Grizzlies 92: The scrum was nothing, not worth mentioning. You know who is worth mentioning? J.J. Redick. 15 points off the bench, and since Memphis’ bench is the worst in the league, the Magic won the game.

Great defender, great shooter, great ball handler. Redick’s going to get paid very soon.

Wizards 109 Nets 99: Back to back game against a team with a good stretch four? Yeah, NJ’s not winning that game, I don’t care how much they improved.

Shaun Livingston had 16 points, and played with energy and control. And if that doesn’t make you happy, you’re dead inside.

Some nights, your star goes off and he gets the job done. That’s what happened.

Darko Milicic is a big loss for the Wolves. That pretty much sums up their season right there.

Knicks 113 Clippers 107: You know what drives you nuts about the Clippers? They do things badly and yet no one ever stops to say “Oh hey, we should do this more/better. They’re not shooting well from the arc? Shoot more!